Direct Transmissions from the Hunab Ku [with audio]

cd

If colonial legend and Wikipedia are correct, Hunab Ku was the supreme deity of the Mayan civilization. The god, without a physical form, is represented by a symbol (somewhat similar to the Chinese yin and yang) that signifies the solar calendar, balanced forces and an embodiment of the center of the Milky Way, the "galactic core."

Constellation rock: Matthew Clark and Abel Okugawa of Galactic Core predict the end of times with their noisy tribute to the Mayan calendar, Direct Transmissions from the Hunab Ku.

Hunab Ku constructed the Mayan world from the catastrophe that spewed forth from the mouth of a sky serpent. The first movement (at around 15 minutes each, the four tracks aren’t so much songs as segments of an epic saga) of Galactic Core‘s new record, entitled "Attunement to the Mind of Light," spews sweeping waves of sound. In the spirit of the title, echo-laden sounds swirl around, searching for some precise alignment, some ideal tone. As the movement progresses, the landscape gradually comes into focus. The unwieldy storm gives way to contemplative, calming drones while rattlesnake-like cymbals and shakers slowly morph into heavier, more tangible percussive reference points.

With "Ritual Entrance into Timelessness" the dust has settled. Matthew Clark’s drums seize upon a steady rhythm and Brian Thackeray’s spaced-out guitar coats the cadence with a satisfying mystic language. Abel Okugawa’s synthesizers swell like ether somewhere in between, resembling inconspicuous primordial murmurs rather than their synthetic source. The track meditates upon its own parts with kraut rock-ish persistence before easing into the darkness.

"Dark Rift (Descent of the Skywalkers)" takes on a crunchy, apocalyptic tone. The title is a reference to the region of the Milky Way with which the sun will purportedly align during the winter solstice in 2012, the ending date of the Mayan calendar. The thick, morphing atmosphere of "Attunement" merges with the grooves of "Timelessness" to form a murky horizon of ominous clouds.

Direct Transmissions concludes with "Thirteen," again a reference to the end of the Mayan calendar, whose final and 13th cycle will end in 2012. The track plays like the reverse of the album’s opener as it turns from tranquil noises to fluctuating, chaotic clamor, which in turn dissipates into minimal liquid resonance, the final drips of the universe.

The orbit of Direct Transmissions circles at a perfect speed, balancing an abstract universe with a steady, mesmerizing progression. It seems that, whether or not it was an uncanny connection with an unworldly being, something significant aligned during the summer solstice, when Galactic Core recorded the album. Mythology aside, Clark, Thackeray and Okugawa came together to create nearly an hour of far-reaching sounds that neither overwhelm nor bore. Get Direct Transmissions from members of the band, at Yarnlazer.com and soon at Monkeyclaus.org.